all about obedience

A foggy, Autumn afternoon creates the perfect opportunity for photos of Fisherman’s Bastion, Saint Matthias Church and Castle Hill. On this beautiful afternoon, it opens the door for some personal reflection. How obedient does God find me to be?

One of my favorite Hungarian legends is of an early-century, Catholic priest from a far away land who believed that God spoke to him in a dream. God told him to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. So strong was this sense of God’s command, that in obedience, he boarded a ship. As he traveled, he fell gravely ill. The ship came to port in what was then the kingdom of Buda and the ill priest, close to death, was taken to shore.

One can easily imagine a princess here. This is actually part of the Saint Matthias Church.

That faithful priest had no way of knowing that the Queen had recently converted to Christianity and had been desperately praying for a miracle. Having accepted Christ in a dream, she asked God to send a teacher to show her more about her new-found Savior and to teach her children about the faith. She was desperate for their souls but knew so little. Living in a pagan land, she had nobody to turn to for help.

Overlooking the beautiful Danube, Parliament is across the river and easily seen.

Once on shore, the ill priest was discovered by the Queen and received into the castle. There, he was cared for and nursed back to health. During his long recovery, he taught the queen’s children about the Christ he served. They, too, came to faith.

A view of Castle Hill from the Szenchenyi Bridge.

The priest never made it to his destination in the Holy Land but lived out the rest of his days in ministry to the people of the kingdom of Buda.

Gellert Hill gives a different perspective of the church. Saint Gellert’s story is another beautifully tragic story of obedience.